Elder Law

Report Finds 90 Percent of Nursing Homes Had Violations

By Levin & Perconti

Federal Investigators reported that more than 90 percent of nursing homes were cited for violations of federal health and safety standards last year, and for-profit homes were more likely to have problems than other types of nursing homes. About 17 percent of those nursing homes had deficiencies that caused ?actual harm or immediate jeopardy? to patients. These problems included infected bedsores, medication mix-ups, poor nutrition, and abuse and neglect of patients. In 2007, for-profit nursing homes averaged 7.6 deficiencies per home, while not-for profit and government homes averaged 5.7 and 6.3, respectively. A compliance guide for nursing homes says some homes ?have systematically failed to provide staff in sufficient numbers and with appropriate clinical expertise to serve their residents. In December, the federal government plans to begin using a five-star system to describe the overall quality of care, publishing the rankings on a federal Web site. To read the full story, click here.

Full post as published by Illinois Nursing Home Abuse Blog on September 30, 2008 (boomark / email).